On this day 26 May 1993 (Exactly 28 years ago today) Abedi Pele’s Olympique Marseille beat AC Milan 1-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Munich to win the inaugural UEFA Champions League (formerly European Champion Clubs’ Cup)
The final, which followed the second-ever UEFA Champions League group stage, saw Ivorian-born Marseille defender Basile Boli score the only goal of the match in the 43rd minute with a header to give Olympique Marseille their first European Cup title. It was the first time a French team had won the European Cup. No French side – apart from Monaco-based AS Monaco, which played in French league system – has gone to the final since, let alone won the trophy.
Marseille and their club president Bernard Tapie would later be found to have been involved in a match-fixing scandal during the 1992–93 season (in which Marseille allegedly paid Valenciennes to lose a match), which saw them relegated to Division 2 and banned from participation in European football for the following season. As the scandal affected only French league matches, Marseille’s status as 1993 European champion was not affected.
O. Marseille :Fabian Barthez, Jocelyn Angloma(Jean-Philipe Durand), Eric Di Meco, Basili Boli, Frank Sauzee, Marcel Desailly, Jean Jacques Eyddie,Alen Boksic, Rudi Voller(Jean-Christophe Thomas), Abedi Pele, Didier Dechamps.
Manager :Raymond Goethals
On this day 26 May 1999 (Exactly 22 years ago today) Two injury time goals from substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer secured the European Cup for Manchester United in dramatic fashion after Bayern Munich had taken an early lead at the Camp Nou, Barcelona.
The win, against a Bayern side who led for 85 minutes of the game, saw United obtain what no English club has achieved – the treble of Premiership, FA Cup and European Cup.
With three minutes of injury time awarded, United looked dead and buried, despite a frantic effort during the final quarter of the match.
United’s treble triumph But when Ryan Giggs turned a David Beckham corner back into the box, Sheringham steered it home to secure an unlikely equaliser.
From the kick-off, United again stole possession forcing another corner, with Solskjaer striking Sheringham’s header first-time into the roof of the net.
It gave United the most thrilling of victories – and came on the day the Reds’ other European Cup winning manager, the late Sir Matt Busby, would have celebrated his 90th birthday.
Early shock
For the fourth time in Europe the season United had fallen behind, after Mario Basler fired home from 25 yards – catching captain Peter Schmeichel off-guard.
The set piece had been conceded after Jaap Stam collided with Carsten Jancker on the edge of the box.
Goal Scorerd
Man Utd
Sheringham 90+1, Solksjaer 90+3
Bayern
Basler (6)
Man United: Schmeichel; G Neville, Johnsen, Stam, Irwin; Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Blomqvist (Sheringham 66); Cole (Solskjaer 80), Yorke.
Unused Substitutes : Van Der Gouw, May, P Neville, Brown, Greening.
Bayern Munich: Kahn; Linke; Matthaus (Fink 79); Kuffour; Babbel; Jeremies; Effenberg; Tarnat; Basler (Salihamidzic 88); Jancker; Zickler (Scholl 70).
Unused Substitutes : Dreher, Helmer, Strunz, Daei.
Referee : Pierluigi Collina (Italy)
On this day 26 May 2018 (Exactly 3 years ago today) Gareth Bale scored one of European football’s great goals to help Real Madrid overcome Liverpool and win their third successive Champions League title as goalkeeper Loris Karius suffered a personal nightmare.
Bale made his mark on another Champions League final with a magnificent overhead kick to put Real 2-1 up after 64 minutes.
Liverpool had already suffered the devastating blow of losing top scorer Mohamed Salah midway through the first half – with a shoulder injury sustained in a challenge with Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos – when calamity struck for Karius.
Goals Scored
Madrid
Benzema (51), Bale (64, 83′)
Liverpool
Mané (55)
On this day 26 May 2004 (Exactly 17 years ago today) Jose Mourinho’s Porto romped to an emphatic Champions League final win.
Coach Mourinho was poised to move to the Premiership, and Carlos Alberto ensured it was a fond farewell by striking a powerful opener after 38 minutes.Monaco pressed forward but they were caught on the break as Deco scored a delightful second with 20 minutes left.
And Monaco, who lost captain Ludovic Giuly through injury in the first half, suffered more misery as substitute Dmitri Alenitchev added Porto’s third.
The scoreline was slightly harsh on Monaco, who pressed for much of the final in Gelsenkirchen, but were punished ruthlessly on the break.
And the win only added to Mourinho’s growing reputation, with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon in attendance.
Monaco: Flavio Roma, Hugo Ibarra, Julien Rodriguez, Gael Givet, Patrice Evra, Lucas Bernardi, Andreas Zikos, Edouard Cisse, Jerome Rothen, Ludovic Giuly, Fernando Morientes.
Porto: Vitor Baia, Paulo Ferreira, Jorge Costa, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Francisco Costinha, Maniche Ribeiro, Pedro Mendes, Deco Souza, Derlei Silva, Carlos Alberto.
Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark).
On this day 26 May 1982 (Exactly 39 years ago today ) Aston Villa defeated West German league winners Bayern Munich 1–0 at De Kuip in Rotterdam, Netherlands to win the European Cup for the first, and so far, only time, and continue the streak of English teams winning the competition, being the sixth consecutive victory by an English side.
Goal Scorer:Peter Withe (67)
On this day 26 May 2015 (Exactly 6 years ago today) Nigeria and then Liverpool forward Asisat Oshoala was named as the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year.
The then 20-year-old forward was the first player to win the new award from the BBC World Service, voted for by football fans around the world.
She beat Spain’s Veronica Boquete, German Nadine Kessler, Scot Kim Little and Brazilian Marta to the honour.
“I would like to say thank you to the BBC, to my fans around the world and to everyone who voted,” she said.
The award was the first of its kind hosted by a global broadcaster.
Oshoala, who was the youngest player to be shortlisted, was the leading scorer at the Under-20s World Cup in Canada the previous summer and was voted the tournament’s best player.
Her performances led Nigeria to the final, where they were narrowly beaten by Germany, and she was also a major influence in the senior Nigeria team who won the African Women’s Championship in October 2014.
That ensured their qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.
On this day 26 May 1989 (Exactly 32 years ago today) Ghana’s Nana Yaw Konadu successfully defended his WBC International Super Flyweight title against Korean Dae Yong Park by second round knockout at the World Trade Centre, Singapore, Singapore.
BY: GEORGE ‘Alan Green’ MAHAMAH
